Sunday, May 27, 2018

Two U.S. airmen were slightly injured by laser beams directed at their aircraft from the Chinese military base in Djibouti, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

"This activity poses a true threat to our airmen," said Dana White, the Pentagon's chief spokesperson. "It's a serious matter, so we're taking it very seriously."

"You'd have to ask the Chinese about their motivations" for targeting U.S. aircraft in Djibouti, the tiny Horn of Africa state where American and Chinese military bases are about four miles apart, she said.

Neandertals actually had a rather unique nasal system and breathed primarily through their nose, even when breathing heavily. Could that have been a cold weather adaptation? After all, our noses help warm and moisten the air as it comes in.

Scientists are hoping to grow brain organoids using Neandertal DNA and observe differences between Neandertals and modern humans.

Neandertals might have have had Mediterranean maritime odysseys since their tools were found on the island of Crete.

How much insight do artifacts from Crimea give into Neandertal symbolism?

Differences between Neandertal and modern human mandibular ramus are considered.

The 'endocostal ossifications' of the K 2 Neandertal get reconsidered.

Friday, May 25, 2018

A new study has discovered the first known permanent immigrant to our Solar System. The asteroid, currently nestling in Jupiter's orbit, is the first known asteroid to have been captured from another star system. The work is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.

The object known as 'Oumuamua was the last interstellar interloper to hit the headlines in 2017. However it was just a tourist passing through, whereas this former exo-asteroid - given the catchy name (514107) 2015 BZ509 - is a long-term resident.

All of the planets in our Solar System, and the vast majority of other objects as well, travel around the Sun in the same direction. However 2015 BZ509 is different - it moves in the opposite direction in what is known as a 'retrograde' orbit.

"How the asteroid came to move in this way while sharing Jupiter's orbit has until now been a mystery," explains Dr Fathi Namouni, lead author of the study. "If 2015 BZ509 were a native of our system, it should have had the same original direction as all of the other planets and asteroids, inherited from the cloud of gas and dust that formed them."

Sunday, May 20, 2018

China launched its first domestically produced aircraft carrier earlier for sea trials this week at the northeastern port of Dalian, in the south of Liaoning Province, China. The new ship has not been named yet and carries the temporary designation “Type 001A”.

The new Type 001A is a slightly larger vessel than China’s previous aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, that was purchased from Ukraine in 1999 and originally built in 1985 in the then-Soviet Union as a Kuznetsov-class aircraft cruiser. Liaoning has had three names: first christened as the Riga under Soviet use, then renamed the Varyag and finally the Liaoning after the Chinese purchase in 1999. Analysts report the primary role of the Liaoning has been a training vessel for the development of Chinese carrier doctrine and operations.

The new Type 001A is 315 meters long and 75 meters wide as compared to the slightly smaller Liaoning that is 304 meters long and 70 meters wide. Both ships displace roughly 50,000 tons, significantly less than the Nimitz-class carriers with a loaded displacement of between 100,000–104,000 tons. The U.S. Nimitz-class carriers are also longer at 333 meters.

China’s first domestically developed aircraft carrier left its northeastern port to begin sea trials on [May 13th], state media said, the latest milestone in the country’s efforts to modernize its military.

China’s first homebuilt aircraft carrier has left for its first set of sea trials on Sunday, according to state-controlled media.

The yet-unnamed Type 001A carrier was unmoored and moved by tugs from its berth at the Dalian shipyard and headed out to sea, according to photos released by the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency said on Sunday.

“The sea trials will mainly test the reliability and stability of the carrier’s power system and other equipment,” the state-controlled agency said.

“Construction on the carrier has been carried out as planned since it was launched in April last year, and equipment debugging, outfitting and mooring tests have been completed to make it ready for the trial mission at sea.”

The length of the trials was not announced but a local notice to mariners restricted a portion of the Yellow Sea near the shipyard from Sunday to Friday.

Just how safe IS Autopilot? Some state there's no evidence Autopilot saves lives. Tesla's Autopilot may be in a bit of a crisis. Tesla apparently nixed more driver monitoring for cost reasons. After the crashes, less Tesla owners are using Autopilot. The head of Autopilot left and Tesla will now split the hardware and software portions into separate groups.

A Tesla owner is banned from driving for 18 months after setting the Autopilot and getting into the passenger seat while on the highway.

Google conducted a demo of its Assistant calling to make an appointment with a hair salon. The demo was, if it worked as advertised, mind blowing. However, skepticism hit immediately and now Google is refusing to disclose details of the demo and folks are starting to believe the whole thing was, well, fake. Google has stated the Assistant will ID itself when it does call.

The US Navy is emphasizing speed of development and deployment over price for the MQ-25A. What are the strengths and weaknesses for each contractor for the US Navy's MQ-25A tanker competition? Boeing has revealed more details of its T-1 entrant and given the first full view of the funky inlet on top. Boeing has selected Rolls Royce for the engine for its Stingray entrant. The Boeing MQ-25A has been giving insights on how to handle the aircraft on a carrier. Lockheed released a video of their not quite yet existing entrant as well. Lockheed is pitching a stealthy version of their entrant for the future. Lockheed has stated it could have a flying prototype within a year of the contract award. General Atomics demoed a method for controlling its proposed drone on the deck in a manner similar to a Wii. The Navy is pushing forward with the Cat 5 drone.

Friday, May 04, 2018

China is developing a Long March launch vehicle with a reusable first stage that could have its trial launch as early as 2020, according to a senior Chinese rocket designer.

Long Lehao of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), on April 24 revealed the new plans for the Long March 8 medium-lift launcher at a space industry conference in Harbin, northeast China, an event held to mark China’s third national space day.

The Long March 8 was previously expected to be developed as an expendable rocket to fill a gap in launch capabilities, allowing China to launch up to 4.5 metric tons to a 700-kilometer altitude Sun-synchronous orbit, both for government launches and competing in the global launch market.

Huang Jun, a professor at the Beihang University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Beijing, told SpaceNews that the Long March 8 will adapt existing launcher designs for vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL), similar to the method employed by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

Thursday, May 03, 2018

Due to climate change, sea levels are expected to rise and flood large low-lying areas in many regions of the world. The big question is how we should cope? Should we built dykes or let the sea in?

The choice is not easy, but we have to make it. If we build dykes, we can keep the land dry. But it is a costly and sometimes risky choice. According to biologists at University of Southern Denmark, it is worth considering letting the seawater take over. The results might be more beneficial than trying to keep the water out, they suggest.

Wednesday, May 02, 2018

Sea-level rise and wave-driven flooding will negatively impact freshwater resources on many low-lying atoll islands in such a way that many could be uninhabitable in just a few decades. According to a new study published in Science Advances, scientists found that such flooding not only will impact terrestrial infrastructure and habitats, but, more importantly, it will also make the limited freshwater resources non-potable and, therefore, directly threaten the sustainability of human populations.

Tuesday, May 01, 2018

The Sahara Desert has expanded by about 10 percent since 1920, according to a new study by National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientists at the University of Maryland (UMD).

The research is the first to assess century-scale changes to the boundaries of the world's largest desert. It suggests that other deserts could be expanding as well. The study is published today in the Journal of Climate.

"The trends in Africa of hot summers getting hotter and rainy seasons drying out are linked with factors that include increasing greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere," says Ming Cai, a program director in NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research. "These trends have a devastating effect on the lives of African people, who depend on agriculture-based economies."